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Buffy vs. Edward: Meet the man who staked 'Twilight's' leading vamp

July 1, 2009 | 10:00
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On June 19, Jonathan McIntosh vanquished “Twilight’s” undead heartthrob Edward with the help of one Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It was something that needed to be done, McIntosh said in an interview, calling Edward “a creepy stalker guy.” After the vampire’s obsessive pursuit of his teenage love Bella in last year’s “Twilight,” McIntosh was driven to act.

“Bella is not weirded out by his behavior at all, which made me think, ‘What would Buffy do to this guy if he was into her? What would she do if he snuck into her room at night watching her sleep without her knowing?’” McIntosh said.

As realized by McIntosh, he’d get rebuffed, mocked and, ultimately, a stake through the heart.

McIntosh, 30, a freelance Web designer and owner of RebelliousPixels.com, took it upon himself to pit the two characters against each other in a video he created using footage from the “Buffy” TV series and the “Twilight” film to show, well, an alternative -- and fatal -- ending for the love-struck Edward.

"Buffy" executive producer Marti Noxon said in an interview, "I'm a sucker, so to speak, for any vampire story so I'm a fan of the 'Twilight' saga, but it's true that Edward hasn't come up against a kick-ass woman like Buffy."

"I'm really glad that she didn't end up doing the smoochies with him."

In the clip “Buffy vs. Edward,” the Slayer has little patience for the expertly coifed Edward, dazzling or otherwise. “Being stalked isn’t a big turn-on for girls,” Buffy tells him. When Edward tries to explain that he's on "a special diet," Buffy replies, "What are you doing? Here, at this table, talking to me like we're some kind of talking buddies?"

And later when he shows up in her bedroom in the middle of the night, she resorts to more extreme measures: “Get out or I will drop you out, head first.” A body rolls off the roof in the next scene.

With the second “Twilight” film “New Moon” just months away from its November release, interest in the vampire love story hasn’t flagged and “Buffy vs. Edward” quickly blew up online, linked on highly trafficked pop culture blogs like EW.com’s Pop Watch, Perez Hilton and Jezebel. Jezebel blogger hortense dubbed it “the best clip ever.”

“Everything that is portrayed in ‘Twilight’ as super romantic about Edward is exposed as creepy and stalkerish here,” hortense writes, “which is fantastic, as Edward Cullen’s creepiness too often gets a pass from those who brush aside his controlling, stalkerish ways as the signs of ‘true love.’

“Edward is not the dreamboat here -- he’s the enemy. The best part? Edward lays down his famous line, ‘You’re like my own personal brand of heroin,’ and Buffy responds, ‘Oh my god, what are you, 12?’”

McIntosh said that on Blip.tv, the service he used to upload the clip, and YouTube, “Buffy vs. Edward” has received almost 1 million views. And last Thursday, he made a downloadable version available on his site.

Banishing Edward to the netherworld isn’t a new critique of the “Twilight” story, McIntosh said. “It was already out there in the collective consciousness. I don’t think there was anything original or unique about the points I was making, many of them have been made in many feminist-style critiques since the book came out. I simply wanted to add to the pop culture discourse and debate about these books and the vampire myth.

“Also, I thought it would be hilarious.”

It would seem most “Twilight” fans agreed. Major “Twilight” fan sites with a sense of humor, including HisGoldenEyes.com, TwilightersAnonymous.com and RobertPattinson.org have posted and applauded the carefully put-together video.

“Well, I liked it (a lot) until the end. I cannot believe Edward died. That was really depressing, but the rest was VERY good,” commenter Kristen wrote on BellaandEdward.com.

“As much as I love Edward and [actor Robert Pattinson] and everything else, Buffy would whip him UP!” BandGirlsLoveEdward posted in the Twilighters.org forums.